RV LIVING - LETTING GO

No matter how you slice it, rv living means letting go of many possessions and there are lifestyle changes involved if you decide on a fulltime, or even part-time, lifestyle.

Storage space is at a premium in
an RV, so lots of things you thought you couldn’t live without will have
to be left behind.

I had a somewhat easier time preparing for
fulltime rv living than Robert, as I had helped my parents sort through
things a few years earlier, after they moved into an assisted living
facility.

Prickly Pear in Bloom - Tonto National Forest, AZ

They had lived about forty years in a big old Colonial with a full
walk-up attic and a barn, and they had saved literally everything, for at least 40 years: bank
statements, cancelled checks, tax returns, odds & ends. They always
meant to have a yard sale, but somehow never got around to it. I took
endless large trash bags full of stuff to the incinerator, and decided
then and there to start reducing my own pile of “treasures.”

One
of the hardest things for me was parting with my books. I had lots of
them. To be honest, I still do – books are an addiction for me and
letting go of so many of them was difficult. As a matter of fact, I have
recently discovered that I suffer from abibliophobia which is described
as an unreasonable fear that you will run out of reading material.
However there was no question that rv living would require the
sacrifice.

I had wonderful art books, but they are big and heavy and obviously
would have to go. I sold some on Amazon, sold others at second-hand
bookstores, donated many to the library, and finally gave away a lot to
Goodwill. There were many books I had not even read – with a great
library nearby, I had a tendency to put off reading my own books, saving
them for that long off someday when I might be desperate and not near a
library. (See, there is that fear again!)

Two boxes were packed
up with family things, some of my artwork and small items, and sent to
my two sons, who live on opposite sides of the country. If your children
live nearby, see if they would like any of the items you need to
offload.

I advertised things on Craigslist and sold much of what I listed. I took some antique items to a dealer to sell.

Getting Ready for RV Living

Preparing
for rv living is a big challenge, but little by little, over the course
of about 18 months, the pile of belongings was whittled down. The big
push came when my house went on the market; the last two months of
living there were frantic – I thought I would never get through it all.

Some
of my paintings, quite a number of boxes, and a large cedar chest went into a friend’s attic in North Carolina, just waiting for a day
when I might have a place to put them again.

At Tohono Chul Park - Tucson, AZ

I had “succumbed to the desert” and was excited about my future rv life, but that didn’t make it easier to see the big pile of things that didn’t sell.

In the end, I had to call a local charity to come haul away all that was left. Part of me wanted to pull favorite items out and save them, but I knew I couldn’t do that. Finally, it was over.

It's a hard job - no question about it.

Marie Kondo's book, which is happily available in a Kindle version, may give you some help. I really enjoyed reading it and her method seems to make a great deal of sense.

Good luck!

Some RVers keep a lot of things in a storage facility or haul
them around in a trailer for a year or two, realize they do not need any
of it, and put an ad in the paper inviting folks to come and take
whatever they want. Generally, everything is gone by the end of the day.

In spite of the emotional wrench of giving up so many of your
personal belongings, and possibly your home as well, it is really quite
liberating. It is also astounding to realize how few things you actually
need. We can be buried by our “stuff” – it robs us of our time and
energy, to say nothing of the money it takes to buy or rent space to
hold it all. The less you have, the less work to take care of it, and
the more comfortable your rv living will be.

I still have too many
clothes, and too many books, but I am getting better! Many RV parks
have libraries of a sort – you donate a book and take another. I try to
offload the ones I have read whenever I have the opportunity.

Many
full-time RVers still own a home somewhere – it may sit empty for much
of the year (which could create problems with your home insurance
company, so be sure to check with your agent), or they may rent it for a
number of years, planning to return once their wanderlust has been
satisfied. Selling was the only option for me, and I don’t regret taking
that step.

I believe in life-long-learning, and for most of my adult
life I’ve been an audio junkie. I listened to cassettes, then CDs, when driving; I listened to them when I walked, at home – pretty much anywhere. In 2006, I discovered Learning Strategies, Inc.The company has many wonderful programs, and I own several, but more than any of them, one called Abundance for Life was responsible for
my buying an RV in 2007, retiring from real estate in 2008, and becoming a
full-time RVer for five wonderful years.

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